Central Baptist Church

Hastings, NY - This has been a wonderful week for us. Pastor Michael Zopff is a great brother who is being used of the Lord to grow a great work here just north of Syracuse. It is a great blessing to hear the testimonies of souls saved, encouragement in the midst of difficulties and growing excitement about God's work from the people as well as the pastor. The church is about 7yrs old and this is their 6th missions conference. We praise God for the opportunity to have an hour to present our ministry and field questions on Sunday morning and then preach in the second hour. The people are excited about what God is doing and desires to do in the Philippines.

Another great blessing for us is that the keynote speaker is Pastor Eddie Wyatt from Happy Valley Baptist Church in Villa Rica, GA. He has preached many times at Youth Ablaze in Rochester as is a a wonderful Spirit-filled preacher. Monday night he preached on the cross and how the first three statements Christ made were for others - forgive them, today, you will be with me in paradise and then speaking to John of Mary. His message was on love of others and was a great challenge and encouragement. Monday we stayed in Syracuse and then had time to fellowship with Bro. Wyatt, Zopff and the Thrum family - missionaries to New Guinea. Take a moment and pray for all these servants of our Lord. Tuesday was another hot day and a lightning storm took out power at the church all day - from about 11:30am until oh, 6:30! The Lord is good, we were scrounging for generators and extension cords etc and the Lord showed us that He would be the source of our power for the night!
Pastor Wyatt preached on the excuses of Moses and challenged us not to limit God and not to doubt a call that He has placed on us, another great message.
Wednesday, well that is another post :)
We have had a great conference, we have met pastors from other churches, we have been blessed with encouragement and gifts from the church family and even enjoyed a great church picnic at a nearby park Sunday afternoon, it has been a full and blessed week!

Communication from the King

In 2 Chronicles 30 we read the second phase of the revival that took place in Jerusalem under the young reign of King Hezekiah. At the beginning of his reign the king had already repaired the temple, sanctified the priests, made a covenant with God that God might stay His wrath, charged the people to be not negligent but to prepare their hearts, was an example by rising early and going to the temple himself and offered sacrifices with worship, joy and a free heart.

Revival was taking place. Chapter 30 then Chronicles how the king reinstituted the passover in a powerful way and this is what was especially intriguing to me this morning.

2Ch 30:6 - So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
2Ch 30:7 - And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.
2Ch 30:8 - Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.
2Ch 30:9 - For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.
2Ch 30:10 - So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.
2Ch 30:11 - Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.

What a picture of Missions this is.

• The posts (missionaries - the responsibility and privilege of all Christians) have been sent by the decree of the KING
• Their task is to go from city to city declaring a message
• That message is the Written decree of the King (Bible) charging all men everywhere to repent (turn to the Lord God)
• It is a message that has hope of restoration thanks to the grace and mercy of God
• It is a message that has a stern warning of wrath for those who don't turn
• There is a compassion represented - a pleading with the people not to be stiffnecked, not to be like the others, not to follow the crowd, not to continue in the sinful ways of their fathers but to turn to God
• In the process the Posts receive persecution (promised to those that will live godly in Christ Jesus - 2 Tim. 3:12)
• The result - divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem - To the glory of God!
• Beyond that we read how that revival continued to spread through the land -
  2Ch 31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

Be encouraged today, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation!

The greatest present we can give to God

Isa 18:2 ...Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
Isa 18:3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.


Isa 18:7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

A challenge that rings through the centuries imploring messengers to GO.
This land is not Israel, the command is not to go to them to destroy them or to pillage them - it is to a land in this case that is downtrodden, scattered and humbled. What is to gain from such a place?

It is to bring a message, a message that if they will look to the ensign on the mountains, if they will heed the trumpet call and hear the declaration - they will know that there is hope, they will know that there is a God in Zion, a God that they can meet with, a God that will recieve them.

That wonderful declaration is the heartcry of the missionary that proclaims it, the hope to those who hear it and the glory of God who made the message possible.

Should the people respond, what a beatiful result - the missionary is allowed to see the fruit of the labour and as those people from that downtrodden land find the hope in Jesus Christ, they can meet with God.
Lastly and most importantly as this passage tells us, it will be a PRESENT - a gift, a blessing, a means of God getting glory as His desire is fulfilled that more people come into His kingdom!

What better present is there to bring to our Saviour then souls to worship Him.

Luk 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.